1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rear and side viewing devices for vehicles and, more particularly, the present invention relates to a rear and side viewing device for vehicles providing real time images of the area surrounding the vehicle to a driver of the vehicle by utilizing a video camera.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous innovations for rear and side viewing devices for vehicles void of rear and quarter windows have been provided in the prior art. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the prior art external rear view mirrors 32a and 32b are mounted to the doors 24a and 24b of the cab portion 20a of a vehicle 18a. The vehicle includes an opaque rear side 17a. With the prior art external rear view mirrors 32a and 32b extending from the sides of vehicle 18a, the width of the vehicle 18a is increased and, more importantly, the mirrors 32a and 32b include blind spots preventing the driver from viewing all areas surrounding the vehicle 18a regardless of the distance to which the prior art external rear view mirrors 32a and 32b extend from the vehicle 18a. 
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,710,040; 4,161,352; 4,934,246; and 4,964,712 are all also illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
This invention relates to automobile-mirrors, and has for its object to provide a specimen of mirror, somewhat similar to a periscope, which, when properly adjusted, will at all times keep the driver of a car informed as to the movements that take place in the rear of the automobile as well as in front thereof.
Apparatus for use in surveillance from a vehicle includes an adapter which is mounted adjacent to a wall opening in the vehicle and a casing which is rotatably mounted on the adapter. Mounted within the casing is an extendible-retractable scope for selective shifting through the wall opening. The scope includes a pair of opposed mirror surfaces for reflecting images from outside the vehicle to the inside.
A wide angle trapezoidal periscope is disclosed having an upper trapezoidal housing and a smaller lower trapezoidal housing secured to said upper housing having optics sealed therein which include parallel upper and lower windows and parallel upper and lower mirrors. When used on military vehicles, the lower trapezoidal periscope housings are inserted within evenly and closely spaced trapezoidal openings in the rim of a hatch and are secured to the hatch with comer connectors to clamp non-parallel walls of said upper housings within about xe2x85x9 of an inch of the adjacent non-parallel walls of the next adjacent trapezoidal housing. Each periscope provides a vertical field of view of about 43 degrees and a horizontal field of view of about 140 degrees.
A device for enabling the driver of a vehicle to view behind the vehicle as he is driving. The apparatus includes a number of elongated periscopes mounted generally vertical within the vehicle. The periscopes are mounted so as to provide adjacent angular fields about a generally vertically-oriented axis. The device further includes a plurality of sleeves, each sleeve receiving a corresponding periscope for axial movement relative thereto. The sleeves are mounted for movement about a generally horizontal axis. Each sleeve includes a pawl member which projects axially from its corresponding sleeve. The apparatus is, further, constructed so that when a main body portion of a periscope is moved telescopically within its corresponding sleeve to bring that sleeve into engagement with a collar carried by a head portion of the periscope, the pawl member will enter one of a plurality of circumferentially-spaced notches formed in the collar to enable rotation of the main body portion of the periscope tube about the axis of elongation thereof.
The present invention relates to rear and side viewing devices for vehicles and, more particularly, the present invention relates to a rear and side viewing device for vehicles providing real time images of the area surrounding the vehicle to a driver of the vehicle by utilizing a video camera.
A primary object of the present invention to provide a rear and side viewing device for vehicles which will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device for vehicles which eliminates the need for prior art external rear view mirrors on vehicles.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device for vehicles which does not fog up and thus reduce the effectiveness of the device.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device for vehicles which displays images of objects so as to appear at their actual distance.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device for vehicles which reflects images present in the rear and immediately adjacent lane on each side of the vehicle.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device in which images at the rear and sides of the vehicle are captured by a video camera and are available for real time viewing by the driver of the vehicle on a video screen within the vehicle cab thereby eliminating blind spots.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device including a video screen having a plurality of screen picture adjusters, the plurality of screen picture adjusters including adjusters for at least one of brightness, contrast, vertical hold, horizontal hold, and color.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device including a video screen having a plurality of camera position adjusters, the plurality of camera position adjusters including adjusters for at least one of vertical span, horizontal span, on/off, and focus.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device wherein a vertical scan range of the video camera is 90xc2x0 and the horizontal scan range of the video camera is 180xc2x0.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device including horizontal motion sensors for detecting objects adjacent the vehicle and turn the video camera to capture an image of the object.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device including manual controls within the cab of the vehicle for controlling the movement of the video camera along the vertical and horizontal scan ranges based upon the desires of the driver.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device including a mount for retaining the video camera having a fixed base portion and a movable fork portion, the movable fork portion being movably affixed to the fixed base portion and including a left fork and a right fork emanating therefrom, the left fork having a left end containing a left throughbore and the right fork having a right end containing a right throughbore.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device wherein the fixed base portion of the mount includes an internally positioned fixed horizontal scan motor having a horizontal scan gear and a revolving shaft, the revolving shaft including a free end to which the horizontal scan gear is affixed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device wherein the movable fork portion of the mount contains a substantially cylindrically-shaped cavity having an upper side portion, the upper side portion including a closed ring of gear teeth disposed thereon which meshes with the horizontal scan gear, wherein when power is supplied to the fixed horizontal scan motor the horizontal scan gear is caused to revolve via the revolving shaft thereby causing the mount and ultimately the video camera to revolve through the 180xc2x0 horizontal scan range as desired by the user.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device including a stationary pin having a first end including a fixed pin gear. The stationary pin is fixedly secured within the left throughbore of the left fork and extends into the video camera. The video camera contains an internally fixed vertical scan motor having a vertical scan gear and a revolving shaft, the revolving shaft includes a free end to which the vertical scan gear is affixed, the fixed pin gear meshes with the vertical scan gear whereby when power is supplied to the fixed vertical scan motor the vertical scan gear and thus the video camera are caused to revolve through the 90xc2x0 vertical scan range, as required by the user.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device including a pivot pin pivotally passing through the right throughbore contained in the right fork and rigidly affixed to the video camera.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device including a watertight gasket seal disposed around the perimeter of the throughbore in the top of the vehicle whereby the junction between the hollow tubular substantially cylindrically-shaped body portion and the throughbore will not leak.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device wherein the substantially prism-shaped receiving portion includes a transparent pane of glass wherein images captured from the rear and sides of the vehicle can pass therethrough.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a real time video rear and side viewing device including a horizontal scan range of 180xc2x0 and a vertical scan range dependent upon the length of the hollow tubular substantially cylindrically-shaped body portion. The substantially prism-shaped receiving portion and the substantially prism-shaped viewing portion both functioning as limit points for the vertical scan range.
Additional objects of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds.
A real time video device for viewing the images at the rear and the sides of a vehicle is disclosed by the present invention. The real time video device includes a video camera movably mounted to the vehicle for capturing images of events occurring surrounding the vehicle and a video screen mounted within the vehicle and connected to display the images captured by the video camera. A device for moving the video camera along a horizontal plane to capture images along the horizontal plane and a device for moving the video camera along a vertical plane to capture images along the vertical plane are connected to the video camera. A manual control device is connected to the devices for moving the video camera along both the horizontal and vertical planes for capturing images along both the horizontal and vertical planes based upon desires of the driver for real time viewing by the driver of the vehicle on said video screen. An automatic control device is connected to the device for moving the video camera along the horizontal plane for capturing images along said horizontal plane based upon sensed conditions along the sides of the vehicle for display on said video screen to alert the driver to the sensed conditions thereby avoiding blind spots which inhibit the driver from driving safely.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims.
The novel features which are considered characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.